Mine fatalities

We received a news release today from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics about workplace fatalities in West Virginia for 2005. The report goes back 14 years. Here are the raw numbers of fatalities:

2005: 46
2004: 58
2003: 51
2002: 40
2001: 63
2000: 46
1999: 57
1998: 57
1997: 53
1996: 66
1995: 56
1994: 61
1993: 66
1992: 77

Acording to BLS, most workplace fatalities are the result of traffic accidents.

I called someone at the Philadelphia regional office, which issued this news release, to ask about 2006 numbers. They refused to share any.

We can expect some change next year simply because of the number of mine fatalities West Virginia has had this year. According to MSHA, 22 mine fatalities have been recorded in West Virginia so far this year compared with 3 for all of 2005. That was as of Nov. 13.

Kentucky has had 17, up from 11. Ohio has had none, vs. 3 last year.

Of course, the accident at Sago and several other large accidents around that time contribute to the large numbers this year.